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Canada Geese NIGHT Shooting


Dekers
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Now here's a new one to me after all these years, can I shoot Canada Geese at night, never had to before?

This is out of season but covered by at least 2 General Licences (and will not be a Sunday or Bank Holiday), and will be with RIFLES, with geese on the ground, so that's taken care of.

The site is High Profile and sensitive, and daytime is out of the question.  Saturday daytime is also out of the question, that is their busiest time!

So, can I shoot them at night?

Cheers 

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44 minutes ago, wyn said:

How will you see them?

I'm sure only feral pigeons can be shot with illumination or NV

Thanks, this is why I am asking the question, I can't find a definitive answer!

I know that part, BUT, the world is not PITCH BLACK everywhere and we get full moons etc, I have shot ALL night before without any artificial illumination!

Can I shoot Canada Geese at night, or is there anything legal specifically preventing me from doing that?

Cheers

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1 hour ago, Dekers said:

Now here's a new one to me after all these years, can I shoot Canada Geese at night, never had to before?

This is out of season but covered by at least 2 General Licences (and will not be a Sunday or Bank Holiday), and will be with RIFLES, with geese on the ground, so that's taken care of.

The site is High Profile and sensitive, and daytime is out of the question.  Saturday daytime is also out of the question, that is their busiest time!

So, can I shoot them at night?

Cheers 

Shooting Geese under moon light all good. My honest opinion provided you don't use Thermal or Night Vision then again all good. To be 100% right/sure give Natural England a quick call 👍

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3 hours ago, Dekers said:

Now here's a new one to me after all these years, can I shoot Canada Geese at night, never had to before?

This is out of season but covered by at least 2 General Licences (and will not be a Sunday or Bank Holiday), and will be with RIFLES, with geese on the ground, so that's taken care of.

The site is High Profile and sensitive, and daytime is out of the question.  Saturday daytime is also out of the question, that is their busiest time!

So, can I shoot them at night?

Cheers 

Yes, you can shoot them at night but only if your FAC specifies all legal quarry, however you had better be damn sure of your backstops and that no members of the public are about, as unless you have some thermal or night vision device with you, you will be unable to see the full range you can in day light (need to account for ricochets, deflections and fliers) as if your using CF even with varmint bullets you will get pass throughs on every shot. Similarly, RF headshots will also be equally risky.

 

I used to shoot Canada geese (in daylight) on grassed dredging pans (dried reclaimed dredging ponds) from top of the 15ft bank with my 308, seen bullets skip a few times into opposite equally high bank after pass through.

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14 hours ago, Dekers said:

Now here's a new one to me after all these years, can I shoot Canada Geese at night, never had to before?

This is out of season but covered by at least 2 General Licences (and will not be a Sunday or Bank Holiday), and will be with RIFLES, with geese on the ground, so that's taken care of.

The site is High Profile and sensitive, and daytime is out of the question.  Saturday daytime is also out of the question, that is their busiest time!

So, can I shoot them at night?

Cheers 

Could you not get set up just before first light have a few then leave ???. 

Even if its legal you could be leaving yourself open to a whole lot of aggro should someone phone the boys in blue.

 

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15 hours ago, Dekers said:

Now here's a new one to me after all these years, can I shoot Canada Geese at night, never had to before?

This is out of season but covered by at least 2 General Licences (and will not be a Sunday or Bank Holiday), and will be with RIFLES, with geese on the ground, so that's taken care of.

The site is High Profile and sensitive, and daytime is out of the question.  Saturday daytime is also out of the question, that is their busiest time!

So, can I shoot them at night?

Cheers 

Not sure of the legality of it - but you'd need to use non-lead ammo which is realistically going to limit you to the larger calibres. And once you've taken one shot the rest will fly off so rifles may not be as effective in thinning their numbers significantly. 

Might be worth reconsidering whether you could get a few guys with shotguns down there instead, shoot as many on the floor as possible and then keep shooting as they're taking off? I imagine safety will be much less of a concern too. 


 

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Yes, 17HMR moderated. Once one starts to flap about the others are going to get jumpy and you might just get a couple more before they lift. Ask me ...well don't....how I know.   The HMR will eleviate some of the problems with 'bounce' etc but not always and a good recce of angles and backstops should be made.  If you have a handy tree then a high seat will give you a better angle.  If close to habitation then I suggest you make contact with the Constabulary and get a reference to cover any events occurring.

 

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6 hours ago, Smudger687 said:

Not sure of the legality of it - but you'd need to use non-lead ammo which is realistically going to limit you to the larger calibres. And once you've taken one shot the rest will fly off so rifles may not be as effective in thinning their numbers significantly. 

Might be worth reconsidering whether you could get a few guys with shotguns down there instead, shoot as many on the floor as possible and then keep shooting as they're taking off? I imagine safety will be much less of a concern too. 


 

Yes you can use Lead when using a Rifle. As i recommend Deckers to do ring Natural England they will confirm my answer. But if using a shotgun you are correct Non Lead shot 

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3 hours ago, 6.5x55SE said:

Yes you can use Lead when using a Rifle. As i recommend Deckers to do ring Natural England they will confirm my answer. But if using a shotgun you are correct Non Lead shot 

All I can say if the op is using a rifle is to be very , very careful , just been reading an old event that happened to a member of the Beccles wildfowling club a few years ago , the member was legally shooting foxes at night on some of the marshes they rent , the member shot at a fox and hit and killed it , so far so good , but what he didn't know was a cow was more or less in the line of fire and part of the bullet struct the cow in the gut , to cut a long story short the cow had to be put down and all night shooting was banned and the club had to pay out compensation from there insurance , you also got a few residents write to the paper to complain about shooting on the marshes with a rifle and said it could have been one of them taking there dog for a walk , needless to the club banned all night shooting with a rifle .

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I don't think Dekers mentioned shooting on a marsh and I assumed it was geese causing damamge to crops.  As I previously stated, backstop and safety are the first order of the day.  I have some experience on this having culled geese in similar circumstances over 40 years ago and even with a sub 22RF you will be lucky to get three or four down before they lift. However hit them a couple of times and they tend not to return to that field for some time.

As an aside last week I counted 62 swans happily grazing a field of wheat belong to a farmer friend of Team Tractor. They like geese can do a lot of damage in a short time.

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Thanks everyone.   

The site is VERY High Profile, very large and has 24 hour security.  I have extensive experience of shooting Canada Geese but have never had to consider NIGHT shooting them, and a cursory comment from someone suggested that was illegal, I didn't think it was, but because of the nature of this site I must be absolutely 100% sure.

General Licences inc. CL12, FAC Conditions, Other means of removing them have been tried, Lighting, rifles, shotguns, ammo types, Sundays, Bank Holidays, Geese numbers, specific location on site, number of operatives, safety, neighbours etc etc etc have all been accounted for.

The question is simply, is it legal to shoot them at night?

Thanks! :good:

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11 hours ago, Walker570 said:

I don't think Dekers mentioned shooting on a marsh and I assumed it was geese causing damamge to crops.  As I previously stated, backstop and safety are the first order of the day.  I have some experience on this having culled geese in similar circumstances over 40 years ago and even with a sub 22RF you will be lucky to get three or four down before they lift. However hit them a couple of times and they tend not to return to that field for some time.

As an aside last week I counted 62 swans happily grazing a field of wheat belong to a farmer friend of Team Tractor. They like geese can do a lot of damage in a short time.

We have a lot of trouble in the Winter with Swans that are attracted to o s r , apart from walking them off , by the time you get to your motor they are back and with the amount of protection order they have got you have to more or less grin and beer it .

As for shooting Canada geese in the dark , like 6.5x55SE said , all the op need to do is get the right advise from B A S C or the police and go on from there , rather than seek advice from people who think they know , one unknowingly  mistake can cause all sorts of problems .

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1 hour ago, Dekers said:

Thanks everyone.   

The site is VERY High Profile, very large and has 24 hour security.  I have extensive experience of shooting Canada Geese but have never had to consider NIGHT shooting them, and a cursory comment from someone suggested that was illegal, I didn't think it was, but because of the nature of this site I must be absolutely 100% sure.

General Licences inc. CL12, FAC Conditions, Other means of removing them have been tried, Lighting, rifles, shotguns, ammo types, Sundays, Bank Holidays, Geese numbers, specific location on site, number of operatives, safety, neighbours etc etc etc have all been accounted for.

The question is simply, is it legal to shoot them at night?

Thanks! :good:

Simple answer Yes it is legal to shoot Geese at night 👍 

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As per the other people Yes in my opinion it is legal to shoot at night.  After all, as mentioned before - moon flighting, also my evening flights finish well into dark (in most legislation 'night' starts 30 mins or 1 hour after sunset) and therefore enters the 'night' period.

HOWEVER

If you are a member of a shooting organisation contact them (by email) and get a written response.  a) it ensures that all of us keyboard bashers have not got it wrong, b) you have something in writing to show, if the old bill turn up. (the vast majority of officers have little or no training in CWA 82 and sparse training on firearms act except for the major bits)  c) its not worth not checking.

Hope you have an outlet for the meat... if not try 'giving up the game ' page on FB

 

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If you need to reduce numbers, the single most effective way is to ***** the eggs. Shoot what you can, but ***** the nests of those that remain. I use a .22 air rifle and it poleaxes them, to be fair so does the .20, but on the farm lake I have only needed to take a handful to keep them tolerable. With the air rifle you can get 2 or 3 before they twig something is wrong and take wing. You HAVE to hit them in the head beside the eye, so your marksmanship has to be spot on, thankfully, they stick their heads up like an umbrella handle, which is handy. Looking front on, a neck shot works provided you hit central.

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This is a VERY HIGH PROFILE site and a professional job to remove a VERY small number of Canada Geese, (and a fox now, which has just bitten a Security guard when he was feeding it sandwiches - Idiot), they need permanently removing for several legally permitted reasons.  The job has already involved numerous emails, phone calls and a site inspection, as well as RAMS.

I will be taking a team and a wide variety of firearms and shotguns, to ensure the job can be done in one visit, but I will NOT be taking Air rifles!

 

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